78-576: Plant Oxford located in Cowley , southeast Oxford , England , is a BMW car assembly facility where Mini cars are built. The plant forms the Mini production triangle along with Plant Hams Hall where engines are manufactured and Plant Swindon where body pressings and sub-assemblies are built. The original Morris Motors site at Cowley had three manufacturing plants, separated by the eastern Oxford Ring Road and B480 road. The present site of Plant Oxford
156-571: A Maxi as their "Fab-Mobile" decked out in Punk-art graffiti. It also made an appearance in a video of The Farm's cover version of The Human League's "Don't You Want Me". The 1750 was registered as FRK 315T and according to the DVLA website was last taxed in April 1993. The Maxi, grumbled AC/DC singer Brian Johnson , "was like a matchbox on steroids . The only reason you knew it was a car was cos it had
234-479: A cable-operated linkage prone to cable stretch and other problems. These were noted by autotesters such as Vicar in Today's Driver (1969), who wrote: "This is probably a good idea that just needs a little bit of working on." This criticism actually came as a result of a road test two months before the car officially went on sale. The later rod linkage was less problematic. All models were prone to problems brought on by
312-507: A hospital stay in Golspie's Lawson Memorial Hospital for five days where he was treated by Dr. Michael Simpson. After they returned to London, Lennon arranged for the Maxi to be placed on a plinth outside his Tittenhurst home as an homage to their luck, where it stayed for the next few years, during which time Julian took the silver apple from the dash and kept it as a keepsake, though the vehicle
390-598: A huge industrial centre, it attracted workers during the Great Depression looking for work. This resulted in the need for new housing, including from the 1920s Florence Park , built mainly by private landlords . Like many contemporary industrialists of the time, Morris wanted to provide for the whole life of its workers, and so developed the Morris Motors Athletic & Social Club on Crescent Road, which still exists today. Approached in 1935 by
468-465: A huge industrial centre. In the Great Depression many people left areas of high unemployment such as South Wales and moved to the Cowley area to work in Cowley's factories. Large areas of housing were built and rented out to the migrants. Florence Park was one area built in the 1920s for a private landlord to rent to new workers. The houses looked nice but they were poorly built and maintained, until
546-586: A short while the Nomad (under the Austin name) was exported to New Zealand and offered alongside the locally assembled Maxi. The Maxi featured a spacious interior, comfortable passenger accommodation, competitive prices and reasonable running costs. It was let down by a dull interior and poor build quality, although it was not as notorious for its failings as the Austin Allegro and Morris Marina were during
624-584: A television advert shown across West Germany, Switzerland and Austria. Also in 1972, at the Earl's Court Motor Show a competition was staged by The Daily Telegraph , the Institute of British Coachbuilders and Motor Manufactures (later incorporated into the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders ) to design a futuristic concept car based on a Maxi. The winning design was by a young designer, Chris Field, and
702-608: A top award as 'Best Feature' at the 2017 Bauer Awards. In 1972, a married couple escaped the Soviet quarter of Berlin at Checkpoint Charlie in the back of a Maxi. Once over into the western sector, the British Royal Military Police and the West German Polizei were so surprised that two people could fit into a Maxi's boot, that it was then taken up by Leyland West Germany and re-created in
780-492: Is a residential and industrial area in Oxford , in the county of Oxfordshire , England. Cowley's neighbours are Rose Hill and Blackbird Leys to the south, Headington to the north and the villages of Horspath and Garsington across fields to the east. Internationally, Cowley is best known for its automotive industry - historically it was the home of the car manufacturer Morris (later absorbed into British Leyland , then
858-497: Is often called the Cowley Road area, after the road across the fields from Oxford to Cowley villages. The term Cowley today usually refers to the remainder of Cowley (the parish of Cowley St James where the original Cowley villages stood), which became part of the city of Oxford in 1928. However, because the settlements of Cowley were situated within the larger Cowley parishes, there are still some modern contexts (such as
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#1732801106358936-428: Is shorter, narrower and lower than the sixth generation Ford Fiesta ), the Maxi never came close to reaching its projected sales targets. Just under half a million were built over a 12 year period. BL management decisions involving the Maxi had significant knock-on effects to the rest of the car line-up. BL marketing decreed that the Maxi should be the only car in the range to feature a hatchback . This stance prevented
1014-625: The Air Ministry about the factory's ability to change to aircraft industry production, additional capacity was built into the factory through the shadow factory plan from 1937. During World War II , the factory produced the de Havilland Tiger Moth training aeroplane. Also developed on site was the No 1 Metal and Produce Recovery Depot run by the Civilian Repair Organisation , to handle crashed or damaged aircraft, and even
1092-582: The Austin Allegro and Princess models gaining hatchbacks despite those designs being capable of receiving them. The Maxi (code name ADO14) was the last car designed under the British Motor Corporation (BMC) before it was incorporated into the new British Leyland group, and the last production car designed by famed designer Alec Issigonis . It was the first car to be launched by British Leyland. Originally, under BMC's plan for its new model range, which it had been developing since 1965,
1170-757: The Austin Maestro , which also replaced the smaller Allegro, was introduced in March 1983. Shortly after the Maxi's demise, BL met the demand for a larger family hatchback by revamping the Princess and renaming it the Austin Ambassador , although this was a short-lived model which only lasted until 1984, when the Austin Montego was launched. This completed BL's rationalisation, as it now had just one model competing in this market sector, whereas
1248-580: The Great Western Railway opened Morris Cowley railway station to serve the thousands of workers commuting to the factory. In 1933, they built a railway goods yard beside the Wycombe Railway to bring supplies into the factory, and take completed vehicles away. This railway yard still exists today and serves the current vehicle-manufacturing plant, though the railway to High Wycombe has long been lifted. As Cowley expanded into
1326-552: The Maestro and Montego in the 1980s. The Morris Motors factory expanded with factory complexes on both sides of the Oxford Road. Although Morris started his original work on the outskirts of the city the Cowley site quickly became the production site for high volume production. It was the original base of Morris cars when the marque was founded in 1912, and production continued at the factory until 1982, with models including
1404-534: The Mini factory, stood Johnson's Café, which fed thousands of Morris Motors workers in the past. It was founded decades ago by Reginald Johnson and until its final day its interior was decorated with bold murals of early speedway stars. Reginald's sons Aubrey and Len took over after the Second World War . Len's son Joe Johnson was an international motocross star in the 1960s until he settled down to run
1482-661: The Mini Countryman , which was manufactured in Austria. Since 2014 Mini "hatch" 3-door and "convertible" models have also been assembled, under contract, by VDL Nedcar in the Netherlands , joined, at the end of 2016, by the Countryman model, its production now transferred from Austria in anticipation of the launch of a " plug-in hybrid " version. Cowley, Oxfordshire Cowley ( / ˈ k aʊ l ɪ / )
1560-675: The Morris Minor , Morris Oxford , Riley Motor and Wolseley Motors cars. The Morris marque was not abandoned until 1984 when production of the Longbridge-built Morris Ital and development of the Morris Marina finished. The factory then became the production facility for the Maestro , Montego and the Princess Range. Production continued with the facility totally given over to production of
1638-509: The Rover 600 and Rover 800 . These models were replaced by the Rover 75 in late 1998, but BMW broke up the Rover Group in 2000 and Rover 75 production moved to Longbridge . The original Morris Motor sites were flattened and a technology park has since been created on the site. The former Nuffield Press site including the former Oxford Military College buildings was redeveloped in
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#17328011063581716-581: The Rover Group they decide to retain the Pressed Steel Fisher site and transfer the Mini from Longbridge to Cowley, enabling the Longbridge site to continue to produce all the Rover products. BMW retained ownership of the Cowley plant, formerly Pressed Steel, to build the all-new Mini that was launched in the spring of 2001. It has been the best selling car to be built at the plant since
1794-408: The Rover Group ), which has now evolved into Mini . The Cowley area has been inhabited since Roman times . The line of a Roman road runs north-south along the eastern edge of Cowley. It linked a Roman town at Dorchester-on-Thames with a Roman military camp at Alchester near Bicester . A road called Roman Way follows part of its route. It is behind the Mini car factory, starting opposite
1872-546: The Stagecoach in Oxfordshire bus garage. Cowley coalesced from the former villages of Middle Cowley, Temple Cowley and Church Cowley (around St James church), though the ancient parish of Cowley covered much of the area now known as East Oxford . The western portion of the original parish of Cowley was split off and became part of the city of Oxford in 1889, and was given the name of Cowley St John, though today it
1950-430: The Wycombe Railway , opened a station called Morris Cowley to serve some of the thousands of workers commuting to the factory. In 1933, a goods yard was built beside the line to bring supplies into the factory and take completed vehicles away. This yard still exists and serves the current vehicle-manufacturing plant, though the railway beyond has long been lifted. From the 1920s through to the 1960s, Cowley expanded into
2028-412: The "cogs in the sump" layout, whereby the gearbox and engine shared a common oil supply. The clutch oil seal was also prone to leakage. Power came from a 1,485 cc (90.6 cu in), E-Series petrol engine which would later be used in other British Leyland products, such as the Austin Allegro . The 1750 and twin-carburettor 1750 HL models, added to the range in 1971, offered good performance by
2106-765: The 1970s and 1980s saw British Leyland launch a raft of new hatchback models. The Austin Metro, launched in 1980, was only available as a hatchback, as was the 1983 Austin Maestro. On 1 July 1969, John Lennon crashed a white Maxi on the single track A838 road near Loch Eriboll in the Highlands of Scotland. He was on his way to visit his uncle in Durness with Yoko Ono, his son Julian and Yoko's daughter Kyoko. Originally they had set off from Tittenhurst Park, his home near Ascot in his Mini Cooper, however it soon became apparent that it
2184-593: The 1970s and 1980s, the Cowley Assembly Plant (the former Morris Motors factory) faced a high level of industrial action, a problem which successive management teams struggled to resolve. Much rationalisation took place at the plant in the early 1980s, as BL restructured its manufacturing operations in the light of the Ryder Report. Production of the Austin Maxi ended in 1981 to make way for
2262-562: The 1970s. The Maxi had several rivals during the 1970s, including the Volkswagen Passat (1973) and Chrysler Alpine (1975), although its best-selling rivals from Ford and Vauxhall did not produce a hatchback until the early 1980s. One unusual feature of this car was that the rear seat back, as well as folding forward as in a conventional hatchback, also folded back. In combination with fully-reclining front seats, this gave satisfactory, if spartan, sleeping accommodation. Towards
2340-432: The 1980s the group was known as Austin Rover , in the 1990s it was Rover Group and since 2001 the factory has been owned by BMW . But the name "Morris's" is ingrained in local culture and speech habits, particularly amongst older inhabitants. By the early 1970s, over 20,000 people worked in Cowley at the vast Morris Motors and Pressed Steel Fisher plants. Unipart is also a major employer in Cowley, with premises next to
2418-671: The Cowley Fathers mentioned below) when the term "Cowley" is used to refer to other areas in East Oxford outside of Cowley proper. Cowley was a manor from Medieval times, and a 16th-century manor house stood on Oxford Road near the corner with Hollow Way. In 1139, Matilda of Boulogne founded Temple Cowley here for the Knights Templar . The house became part of the Oxford Military College which
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2496-616: The Honda-based Triumph Acclaim , whilst production of the Princess range was axed in 1981 to allow the arrival of production of the Rover SD1 following the closure of the car production lines at Solihull, which was retained solely for the production of Land Rover vehicles. Future large Rovers would therefore be built at Cowley until the BMW sell-off in 2000. The Morris marque was abandoned in 1984, when production of
2574-601: The Longbridge-built Morris Ital finished; it had been transferred there from Cowley in September 1982, two years after its launch. The transfer of the Ital from Cowley was to make way for the Austin Maestro and Montego , which were launched in March 1983 and April 1984 respectively, continued in production until December 1994, though production was gradually cut back after 1989 following the launch of
2652-486: The Maxi and his driver took the Mini back to Tittenhurst, and the four set off north again to Northern Scotland; stopping briefly in Windermere and Edinburgh . Whilst driving along the narrow A838 road, Lennon panicked when he saw another car approaching him and sent the Maxi headlong into a ditch. While the children escaped relatively unhurt, Lennon received a gash to his forehead and Ono injured her back, resulting in
2730-668: The Maxi had been one of three designs competing in a sector of the market which had been led by the Ford Cortina . The Maxi production lines at Cowley were taken over by production of the Triumph Acclaim , which was launched in October 1981. Despite its practical design and remarkable space efficiency (it is shorter, narrower and lower than the sixth generation Ford Fiesta ), the Maxi never came close to reaching its projected sales targets. BL management decisions involving
2808-433: The Maxi had significant knock-on effects to the rest of the car line-up. BL marketing decreed that the Maxi should be the only car in the range to feature a hatchback . This stance prevented the Austin Allegro and Princess models gaining hatchbacks despite those designs being capable of receiving them. The policy was discontinued with the arrival of the Rover SD1 in 1976, and the fast-growing popularity of hatchbacks during
2886-454: The Maxi was to have been called the "Austin 1500" on its spring 1969 launch, and a saloon version the "Morris 1500" was to follow in the autumn. However, upon the merger of BMC and Leyland the new management abandoned the four-door saloon notchback and developed the Morris Marina instead. The Marina, launched in April 1971, was a rear-wheel drive car available as a saloon, coupe or estate. The new chairman Lord Stokes decided to also change
2964-412: The Maxi's practical and spacious bodyshell lay an all-new front-wheel drive chassis, which was interlinked with an innovative five-speed manual transmission ; the fifth gear was another rarity on family cars in 1969 and one which many manufacturers did not adopt until more than a decade later. The gear selector suffered from notorious problems with its control linkage, especially in early models which had
3042-410: The air filtration systems. The site now belongs to Oxford Brookes University who built student accommodation on the site, and now use the former bunker as a storage facility making it the only student halls in the country with its own nuclear shelter. In 1921 the civil parish had a population of 2790. On 1 April 1929 the parish was abolished and merged with St Giles and St John . The Cowley area
3120-415: The cafe alongside Aubrey and his son, Andrew, after Len's death. After Aubrey's death in the 1980s the cafe was run by Andrew and Joey to the end. This cafe suffered an armed robbery on 16 January 2008 and closed in 2009. The building is now occupied by Oxford Spin & Fitness centre. Schools serving Cowley include Greyfriars Catholic School and Oxford Spires Academy . Cowley is a principal setting in
3198-535: The car factory. In later years Morris Motors and Pressed Steel became one company. Subsequently the Morris's site was closed down, demolished, and redeveloped as the Oxford Business Park. The car factory is known today as Plant Oxford and is now owned by BMW and has been extensively redeveloped. It remains the largest industrial employer in Oxfordshire employing more than 4,300 people. The plant
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3276-464: The car was a four-door saloon version, to compete directly with the Ford Cortina . A prototype was built, badged as a Morris, but it was not put into production, since the booted extension made the Maxi almost the same size as the 1800 model, which was itself replaced in March 1975 by the 18-22 series models (renamed the Princess soon after its launch). Also worthy of note is that the Maxi was voted
3354-570: The carried-over doors made the Maxi resemble a scaled down version of the 1800 (and the Austin 3-Litre , which also used the same doors). This design was by then five years old, at a time when curvaceous American-inspired " coke bottle " styling (typified by contemporaries such as the Ford Cortina Mk III and Hillman Avenger ) was very much in vogue, contrasting sharply with the Maxi's obviously mid-1960s looks. Another styling ambition for
3432-636: The company, in return for joint-development of the new Rover 600 and 800 , both produced at Cowley. The 800 Series had been launched in mid 1986 and facelifted at the start of 1992; a year before the launch of the 600 Series. Despite 1989 seeing a then record of more than 2.3 million new cars being sold in the United Kingdom, falling demand for the 800 Series resulted in 1,800 job cuts at Cowley being announced in October of that year. On 31 January 1994, BAe announced sale of its 80% majority share of Rover Group to BMW . On 21 February, Honda announced it
3510-575: The end of the Maxi's life, in 1980, a lightly revised model was marketed as the "Maxi 2", although by now sales were declining and a new car to succeed the Allegro and Maxi was being developed. Its launch was delayed by the extra investment required to develop the Austin Metro , launched in October 1980. On 8 July 1981, the Austin Maxi's 12-year production run came to an end. Its replacement,
3588-481: The former Oxford Military College in Cowley. Moving his company into the new site, from 1914 onwards Morris pioneered Henry Ford -style mass production in the UK, by building what became affectionately known as "the old tin shed." In 1925, Morris opened his own printing division, Morris Oxford Press, later Nuffield Press , taking up some of the original military college buildings. To facilitate more efficient production,
3666-412: The former Morris Motors site were placed into a redevelopment project called the Oxford Business Park, which now houses offices of numerous companies including: European headquarters of Harley-Davidson Motorcycles ; the global headquarters of international aid charity Oxfam ; Wiley-Blackwell ; Royal Mail ; HM Revenue and Customs ; and a large David Lloyd fitness centre . Plant Oxford now produces
3744-631: The hatchback's name to the Maxi in homage to the Mini of 10 years earlier. All Maxis were produced at the Cowley plant in Oxford , although the E-Series engines were made at a new factory at Cofton Hackett in Longbridge . The Maxi was launched in Oporto, Portugal, on 24 April 1969, in a blaze of publicity; it was one of the first cars to appear on the BBC's new car programme Wheelbase . Underneath
3822-487: The late 1990s into housing. The business park has attracted a large David Lloyd Leisure centre and offices of numerous companies including the European headquarters of Harley-Davidson Motorcycles and the headquarters of international aid charity Oxfam GB . Cowley is an ethnically diverse community, with significant black and South Asian communities. Cowley has a strong sporting tradition. In 1938 Oxford Stadium
3900-483: The least stolen car in 1971 and 1972. In Australia, owing to recently increased local content assembly tariffs which would have resulted in the Maxi being uneconomic to build, Leyland Motor Corporation of Australia developed in the UK the Morris Nomad , a hybrid utilizing the Maxi's E-series engine/transmission and rear tailgate, fitted to the Morris 1100 body which was already being assembled in that country. For
3978-427: The name of the car factory to this day. A brief timeline of the plant's history is as follows: By the early 1970s, over 20,000 people worked in Cowley at the vast British Leyland and Pressed Steel Fisher plants. After re-organisation, PSF became part of the reorganised Austin Rover , while parts Unipart was floated off in a management buyout, but still has its global headquarters next to the Morris plant. Throughout
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#17328011063584056-516: The new Mini , built by BMW since May 2001. It is the largest industrial employer in Oxfordshire. In February 2009, 850 jobs cuts at the site were announced, resulting in union bosses being pelted with food by angry agency staff who felt that the union had failed to do enough to try and save their jobs. Shortly thereafter, the company was forced to hire more staff to meet production requirements due to an upswing in demand overseas. Group tours of
4134-660: The novel The Alteration by Kingsley Amis , set in an alternative reality where the Protestant Reformation never occurred. Cowley was the site of the Holy Victory in the War of English Succession (where 'Henry the Abominable' attempted to seize the throne from his nephew Stephen II, resulting in a papal crusade). As a result, it was renamed Coverley and made the ecclesiastical capital of England, surpassing
4212-528: The plant are offered and should be booked in advance. In October 2015, a two-episode series Building Cars Live was filmed there to show how a car is built. It was presented by James May , Kate Humble and Ant Anstead . In 2016, Plant Oxford produced 210,973 Minis, which represented an increase of nearly 5% over the previous year's total of 201,207. Production volumes of all Mini models produced at Plant Oxford. Staff numbers shown here include "temporary" staff. These figures exclude production numbers of
4290-713: The prize was to have his design on paper turned into reality. The "Aquila" was constructed by Woodhall Nicolson of Halifax with help from Lucas , Smiths (Motor Accessory Division & Radiomobile) and Triplex . The resultant car was exhibited at the 1973 show and then given to Field. From 1975-80, British Leyland supplied the Lawn Tennis Association every year with official "Wimbledon" Maxis. These were standard single carburettor 1750s but fitted with HL velour seat trim and extra sound proofing. Afterwards, they were sold through local Surrey dealers as ex-demonstration cars. In 1991, punk revival band Fabulous used
4368-414: The processing of wreckage from enemy Luftwaffe aircraft. Artist Paul Nash was inspired to paint Totes Meer based on sketches he made of the recovery depot. For a detailed history on the post-war management of the factory, refer to the articles on British Motor Corporation , British Leyland , and Rover Group Despite successive company mergers and name changes, "Morris's" is still often used as
4446-609: The rights to build the new Mini and retained the Cowley plant to produce it at. In 2000, BMW broke up the Rover Group, selling MG Rover and its products to the Phoenix consortium for the nominal sum of £10, which included the Longbridge plant . BMW agreed to redevelop the entire Cowley plant site with the Goodman Group, demolishing much of the factory, to create a new factory called Plant Oxford. The residual parts of
4524-476: The same decade the railway between Princes Risborough and Oxford closed, but the track between Kennington Junction and Cowley remains open for freight in and out of the car factory. Between 1980 and 1992 the headquarters of the United Kingdom Warning and Monitoring Organisation (UKWMO) was located in a converted barracks building at Cowley Barracks on James Wolfe Road, Cowley. The UKWMO
4602-425: The secular capital of London in terms of importance. On his 1992 tour of England (heard on the posthumously released Shock and Awe album), the comedian and satirist Bill Hicks stated that he had found the "Alabama of Britain" whilst attending a radio interview in Cowley. Cowley is referenced in the lyrics of the song "Zorbing" by the British alternative indie folk band Stornoway : "Been Zorbing through
4680-406: The standards of the era, with a top speed of 97 mph (156 km/h), while the smaller-engine version could exceed 90 mph (140 km/h). Despite the new platform, the Maxi's styling suffered from the decision to save tooling costs by re-using door panels from the Austin 1800 "Landcrab", which gave the Maxi an unusually long wheelbase in relation to its length, coupled with the fact that
4758-450: The streets of Cowley". Young detective Endeavour Morse is based at Cowley Road police station in the Inspector Morse prequel Endeavour . Austin Maxi The Austin Maxi is a medium-sized, 5-door hatchback family car that was produced by Austin and later British Leyland between 1969 and 1981. It was the first British car to feature a hatchback body style. Despite its practical design and remarkable space efficiency (it
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#17328011063584836-410: The successful Allen Scythe powered by a small Villiers petrol engine. The works closed in the early 1980s, and the Templars Shopping Park formerly known as John Allen Centre retail park has since been built on the site. The Oxford Military College bought the former Cowley Middle Class School in 1876. The College hall, a former manor house , was built in the early 17th century. The Chapel of 1870
4914-400: The successful Longbridge-built Rover 200 and 400 series models. In 1992, Rover sold the entire site to property group Arlington Securities, itself later sold to the Australian property company Macquarie Goodman, now the Goodman Group and most of the old site was demolished. Owner of Rover Group, British Aerospace , agreed a partnership with Honda , with Honda taking a 20% stake in
4992-471: The tenants held a rent strike and forced the landlord to make repairs. Most Florence Park houses are now owner-occupied, and the area's tree-lined roads are now a popular neighbourhood in which to live. In World War II the Morris factory produced many de Havilland Tiger Moth training aeroplanes for the war effort and there was also the No 1 Metal and Produce Recovery Depot run by the Civilian Repair Organisation to handle crashed or damaged aircraft and even
5070-400: The wreckage of enemy aircraft was processed here. Paul Nash was inspired to paint Totes Meer based on sketches he made of the recovery depot. Despite successive company mergers and name changes, "Morris's" is still often used as the name of the car factory to this day. In 1952, Morris Motors became part of the British Motor Corporation (BMC), in 1968 BMC became British Leyland , in
5148-427: Was William Morris, later Lord Nuffield , who founded Morris Motors which was the source of a great deal of local employment leading to substantial growth in the area. A public house is named after him located in the nearby Templar Square shopping centre. Another well-known pupil of the school was the actress Dame Maggie Smith . In 1866 the Society of St. John the Evangelist , a Church of England religious order ,
5226-443: Was auctioned many years later. Lennon also had its steering wheel removed and it was hung up in his billiard room in the house. When Lennon and Ono finally left the UK for the United States, Lennon sold Tittenhurst to friend and former bandmate Ringo Starr who had the Maxi scrapped. In October 2016, James Walshe, the deputy editor of Practical Classics car magazine retraced Lennon's journey in his 1969 Maxi. The feature later received
5304-429: Was built on its grounds in the 19th century. In 1864, the Wycombe Railway between High Wycombe and Oxford was built through Cowley, but at this time the village was so small that the railway company did not provide it with a station. Cowley St James C of E school, situated on Beauchamp Lane adjacent to the church, was established in 1834 and continued to operate as a primary school until 1975. Its most famous pupil
5382-437: Was built on the site of part of a former Knights Templar estate. [1] Opposite the site of the former pool is the band hall of the City of Oxford Silver Band and next door to it stands Cowley Library,. Oxfordshire Record Office occupies the former St Luke 's church nearby. Morris Motors Athletic & Social Club in nearby Crescent Road has a large sports ground and club house. Until 2009 on Watlington Road, opposite
5460-412: Was built to host the sport of greyhound racing . In 1939 motorcycle speedway moved to Oxford Stadium. After a few years Oxford's speedway team were named Oxford Cheetahs, a name they still bear today. Temple Cowley Pools in Temple Road was a public swimming and gymnasium complex run by Oxford City Council which closed in December 2014 for redevelopment as housing. Its main pool was 25 metres long. It
5538-413: Was designed by the architect Edward George Bruton . An east wing designed by Sir Thomas Graham Jackson was added in 1877. The Oxford Military College closed in 1896, developed from 1912 by William Morris as the Cowley plant . During the 1960s, the centre of Cowley was demolished and replaced with Templas Square shopping center (previously it had been known as "Cowley Centre", and sometimes still is). In
5616-693: Was founded near Cowley Road in the parish of Cowley. SSJE was the first long-lasting Anglican religious order for men since the Reformation . The members were frequently known as the "Cowley Fathers". In 1868 the Eddison and Nodding Company factory was founded in Cowley. John Allen bought it in 1897 and renamed it the Oxford Steam Plough Company. He later renamed it again as John Allen and Sons, and diversified into manufacturing other agricultural and horticultural machinery including
5694-406: Was selling its 20% share of Rover Group, resulting in problems in Rover's supply chain which was highly reliant on Honda. BMW invested heavily in Rover, and particularly the Cowley plant, which became the production centre for the new Rover 75 in late 1998. However, when BMW broke up the Rover Group on its sale 18 months later, production of the Rover 75 was switched to Longbridge, while BMW retained
5772-642: Was set up in 1926 by a consortium including William Morris and the Budd Company of America and was adjacent to the Morris Motors factory. Morris and the Budd Company both pulled out of the consortium and the plant became an independent supplier of bodies and tooling to Morris and other car manufacturers across the world. The company also produced the Prestcold refrigerators. When BMW sold
5850-497: Was the car body manufacturing business of the Pressed Steel Company , later known as Pressed Steel Fisher, which was founded in 1926. The north and south car assembly plants were originally Morris Motors plants, later part of British Leyland and latterly the Rover Group . The whole site was reorganised in the 1990s and now only the original Pressed Steel portion of the site remains. In 1912, William Morris bought
5928-538: Was the organisation responsible for initiating the four-minute warning in the event of a nuclear attack on the UK and was disbanded at the end of the Cold War . Co-located with HQUKWMO was the Headquarters of No 3 Oxford Group Royal Observer Corps whose underground protected nuclear bunker at the Cowley site opened in 1965. Parts of the bunker were demolished in 1995, however most of it was refurbished including
6006-536: Was too small for them to drive all the way to Scotland, so they stayed overnight at his relatives' home in Liverpool. From there, he rang Apple Records and arranged for a driver to bring the "staff" car; a recently acquired Snowberry White Austin Maxi registered RLA 888G. It featured a full-length white webasto roof and also had a silver apple mounted on the radio speaker top of the front fascia. The following morning, Ono and Lennon transferred all of their luggage over to
6084-459: Was transformed after 1912 when William Morris bought the former Oxford Military College and moved Morris Motors Limited into it from its former premises in Oxford . He expanded into "The Old Tin Shed" in 1914 and then into a huge complex of purpose-built production lines in Cowley, as Morris pioneered Henry Ford -style mass production in the UK. The Great Western Railway , which had taken over
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